How Does Media Affect Body Image

How does the media affect teenage girls perception of body image?

Community and Family Studies
Year 12
Due Date:
6th March 2012

Contents

Title page _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 1
Contents_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 2
Abstract_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 3
Acknowledgements_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 4
Introduction_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 5
Literature Review_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg 6-13
Research Methodology _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg
Results _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pg
Analysis _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The surveys were handed to teenage girls starting from the age of 13 and the oldest of the girls surveyed were aged 18. The survey consisted of 10 multiple-choice questions. The report consists of 10 literature reviews that were found using the Internet, books and magazines. Through these methodologies and collecting secondary research it has been possible to investigate the question, “How does the media affect teenage girls perception of body image?”

Acknowledgements

Throughout this task there have been a number of sources that have supported and guided me to complete my set report. I would like to thank the following people:

Thank you to all the students of Good Samaritan Catholic College who took time to complete surveys in order for me to complete my report.

Thank you to my teachers Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Tolomeo for their advice and direction throughout the
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The first question in the survey asked, do you feel comfortable with your body weight? The table above shows that 59% of the girls surveyed said yes, they were happy with their body weight and 41% percent said that they were unhappy with their body image.
The question then went further on and asked if the answer to the first part was no, then why? The majority of the responses to this question were that they felt that they were too fat and wanted to lose weight, with the occasional respondent saying that they thought they were too underweight. Some of the other answers included “I want to tone my body”, “I have big legs”, “I wish I was tall like a model” and “people at school tease me because I’m fat”

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Question two asked, would you like to change anything? The results for this question were visibly clear. 68% of the girls surveyed said that they were happy with their body and didn’t feel the need to change anything. On the other hand the remaining 32% said that they were unhappy and would like to change some things. Some of the respondents even recorded what it was that they wanted to change. Some of these included weight, height, and skin